Straight jackets…beatboxers and
strange square cakes?…Another year at Promax!
Slightly bleary eyed from a Stockholm flight that morning and of
course a tad late…I shuffled into the back row with a clipboard and
muffin…yes folks its another year at Promax and as Forest Gump once
said…'you never know quite what you're gunna get'.
Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what came
next…bobble hat, microphone in hand, suddenly came the hoovering,
blipping, incredible baselines of Reeps One. The world
champion beatboxer (twice) and also a rather good friend of mine!
Highlighting the transformation of graffiti from sheer
vandalism to now a world class graphic art agency, Monorex
certainly stepped up and provided a very smiley audience with a big
powerful welcome!
And the fun didn't stop there. After wandering around during
the break I discovered a scientific lab where a mysterious and very
pale group of people from Radium Audio were presenting their latest
creations…the sound harp, bass-dice and
crazy-noisy-box-looking-thingy. It is very hard to explain,
but you can take it from me, that if you like pushing buttons that
make interesting noises, you had effectively just landed in the
Alton Towers of Audio.
Lunch next…not enough chairs again… *sigh*. I'm sure they're
address that next year...I then of course decided to treat myself
to an extra piece of square chocolate-orange cake as compensation
(such a lie…it was 3).
I must say Bruce Dunlop was my hero this year. Judging The
Envy Challenge as a hilariously direct Australian version of Alan
Sugar, Simon Cowell and a bulldog that'd caught its tail in a patio
door, Bruce's comments were of course deserved of his successful
career, and pure comedy gold at the same time! The winners
absolutely smashed it with their cheeky re-work of a 'Back To The
Future' promo, well done team Chellozone!
You may have read the title of this article…and are possibly
wondering where the straightjacket comes into it. Taking an
enormous bow, I would like to say that despite a request for a
'boy' to come up on stage and put Studio Hansa's breakdancing star
into a real straightjacket prior to his illusionist performance, I,
me, little Lucy Stone from Nonstop Music stepped up to the
challenge. I buttoned that boy in so tight he could barely
breath! Boy required indeed. Pah.
Despite my efforts he still escaped and as his applaud echoed
round the Che room I slinked off to my seat.
Next year gadget…next year…